A DAD is to spearhead a new health campaign after he was diagnosed with heart failure aged 39.

Nick Hartshorne-Evans was shocked when doctors broke the news after he suffered a viral infection last Christmas.

However, with support from NHS East Lancashire’s heart failure team, he found the condition could be managed through medication and lifestyle changes.

The businessman from Hapton said: “I thought I was in good health. I hadn’t been admitted to hospital since I was a child and I wasn’t even registered with a GP.”

The most common cause is coronary heart disease or high blood pressure, but sometimes failure may be caused by a leaking heart valve, anaemia, by drinking excessive alcohol or drug use.

Nick’s heart failure stemmed from a rare viral attack, confirmed through an MRI scan at Royal Blackburn Hospital. He spent three weeks in the coronary care unit, where he met Angela Graves, the heart failure team’s nurse manager.

“The care I received was fantastic, the attentiveness of the team was second to none,” he said. Angela talked through my condition.

“This gave me the opportunity to ask all the questions I wanted and get practical information about how to live with heart failure.”

Once he was discharged, Angela visited Nick at home to check on progress.

He added: “Fortunately, my symptoms are now stable. But too many people don’t know enough about the condition, or they see it as something that just affects older people.”

The heart failure team have set up a patient and carers forum and plan to start a patient-led support group.

Angela said: “All too often, people don’t know they have heart failure until the condition is well developed.

“This can then make the chance of recovery slim, so part of our role is to make people aware of what to look out for and raise awareness of this through GP surg-eries.”